Orthopedic footwear



Jan. 5, i943. A FISCH 2,367,032

ORTHOPED I C FOOTWEAR Filed Oct. l1, 1940 Patented Jan. 5, 1943 ORTHOPEDIC FOOTWEAR arthur Fisch, Guelph, Ontario, Canada Application October 11, 1940, Serial No. 360,837

In Canada April 15, 1940 (o1. afi-76) 2- Ciaims.

This invention relates to shoes and more particularly to footwear having orthopedic qualities.

While it has been found that the wearing of shoes of special construction may be benecial in the alleviation of many types of foot ailments arising from various causes, the chief use of such footwear is in connection with the treatment of weaknesses of the longitudinal and metatarsal arches.

Ordinarily, such treatment involves primarily the employment of some means for effectively raising the upper foot supporting surface of the sole into contacting and supporting position with respect to the affected areas.

To accomplish the correction of foot ailments by the use of orthopedic footwear, it is essential that the foot be allowed maximum freedom of movement so that the ligaments being subjected to treatment may be strengthened by exercise during the periodwhile artificial support is necessary.

Furthermore, it is highly desirable that orthopedic shoes be as comfortable as possible and that they have good wearing qualities, and goo-d appearance. f

In an effort to meet the requirements outlined above, it has been proposed heretofore to insert detachable pads of resilient material between the upper surface of the shoe sole and the foot of the wearer in such position that they will underlie and support those portions of the foot which must be artificially maintained in normal position. These pads, although flexible enough to allow for reasonable exercise of the foot, interrupt the normally smooth upper surface of the sole, rendering the shoe less comfortable than a shoe of conventional construction. Furthermore, detachable pads are subject te easy displacement and when so moved may cause serious injury to the foot by giving support at a point where it is not needed while affected areas in need of support will be neglected.

If, on the other hand, supports are built into the shank of the shoe sole they must be of co-nsiderable rigidity. In constructions now used, built-in supports are usually of metal and, thus, although remaining in place and allowing for a smooth upper surface of the shoe sole, so reduce the exibility thereof in a longitudinal sense as to limit the normal movement of the foot incident to walking or running. Of course, the treatment of fallen arches is impaired by the removal of the adequate exercise factor. The additional weight imparted to shoes by the insertion of metal supports is also an undesirable feature.

Efforts have been made to render the shank of the shoe sufficiently flexible in a longitudinal sense to permit adequate exercise of the foot.A

The shoe constructions resulting from these efforts are generally characterized by the use of some soft deformable material in the manufacture of the shoe shank. The use of soft material, while permitting adequate longitudinal flexing, seriously impairs the firmness of the support beneath the weakened arches. Naturally, this detracts from the orthopedic quality of the shoes since, although exercise is possible, it is not accompanied by the necessary degree of support.

The few orthopedic shoes now available to the purchasing public which may be considered wholly satisfactory from the medical standpoint are very complex in construction and hence exceedingly high in cost.

It is an object of this invention to overcome all of the foregoing difficulties and to provide orthopedic shoes which are comfortable, simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, flexible enough to permit adequate foot exercise and yet rigid enough at the areas of support to maintain deformed portions of the foot in normal position.

It is contemplated by this invention to provide a shoe sole of flexible resilient material having an uninterrupted upper surface, the thickness of the sole at the areas of support being such that the upper surface willbe urged into foot contacting and supporting position.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred form thereof in conjunction with the annexed drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan View of a shoe sole constructed according to this invention;

Figure 2 is a view in elevation taken from the right side of the sole illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a view in elevation taken from the left side of the sole illustrated in Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a View in section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

The shoe sole shown in the drawing is of a unitary construction and may be moulded or otherwise fabricated from a solid sheet of rubber or other flexible, resilient material. The upper surface of the sole is smooth, flat and uninterrupted by pads or other detachable supports which may render the footwear either uncomfortable or dangerous to the user. The lower or wear surface is somewhat roughened to provide a good ground grip, necessary in sports shoes, and desirable in any footwear to prevent slipping.

The sole may be considered to consist of three major portions, the ball portion IB, the shank portion Il, and the heel portion I2. It will be noted, upon reference to Figures 2 and 3, that the ball and heel portions are of substantially equal thickness.

Shank portion II is divided into a number of transversely extending solid studs I3 spaced apart by transverse grooves It. These studs depend downwardly from the shoe sole and are adapted to contact a walking surface.

It will be noted that the thickness of the sole at the shank portion from its upper surface to the bottom surface of the studs I3 is in excess of the thickness of either the ball or heel portions and that the thickness of the shank I I at the grooved portions is less than the thickness of either ball portion I or heel portion I2. Furthermore, by reference to Figure 4 it will be seen that the thickness of shank II at the point where studs I3 depend therefrom increases from a minimum, in excess of the thickness of the heei and ball portions, on the outside of thesole (Figure 3) to a maximum on the inside of the sole (Figure 2).

When the shoe sole here shown is worn, the weight of the wearer applied to the upper surface thereof will cause all of the lower sole surface to contact the ground or other level hard walking surface. rIhus, the end of each depending stud I3 will be in contact with the ground or other surface as well as ball and heel portions I and I2, respectively. rl'his will cause the upper surface of shank I! to be deformed into contacting and supporting position with respect to the longitudinal arch of the wearer because of the increased thickness of studs I3 with regard to ball portion Ii! and heel portion I2. Since studs I3 are wedge-shaped and made of solid resilient material they will oer a rm support to the longitudinal arch, while the thinness of the shank II at the grooved areas will permit adequate flexibility in a longitudinal sense allowing for adequate exercise of the supported area.

It will be borne in mind that the longitudinal arch of a normal human foot is of greatest height at the inside gradually lowering toward the outside. This contour will be followed by the upper surface of shank II of the shoe sole here shown by virtue of the gradually increasing thickness of the studs I3 as they extend transversely of the foot from the outside to the inside.

An important feature of this invention is that the support for the longitudinal arch is flexed or deformed into position so that support is afforded only when needed, that is, when there is a tendency for the arch to sag. When running, for example, only the ball portion of the foot normally contacts the ground. Under these circumstances the shoe of the present invention would give no support to the longitudinal arch which would be thus subjected to an excellent strengthening exercise. Once the entire foot is placed on the ground in a position of repose and flexing thereof has ceased, there is again a tendency for the arch to sag. At this time full support is afforded by the action of studs I3 in urging the upper surface of shank I I into arch contacting and supporting position.

This application is a continuation-in-part of Arthur Fisch application Serial Number 290,273, led August 15, 1939.

Although the above description and the annexed drawing have reference to a specific embodiment of this invention, it will be apparent that many modiiications thereof are possible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated b-y the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. In a shoe sole composedof rubber or the like, a heel portion, a ball portion, a solid shank portion, said portions presenting an uninterrupted upper surface, the lower surface of said shank portion being interrupted by a plurality of spaced transversely extending downwardly depending solid supports adapted to underlie and support the arch of the wearer, the space between the bases of adjacent supports being substantially equal to the ground contacting area of one of said supports, whereby longitudinal flexure of said shank portion may occur over a substantial area.

2. In a rubber shoe sole, a heel portion, a ball portion, a solid shank portion, said portions presenting an uninterrupted upper surface, while the lower surface of the shank portion is transversely grooved, transversely extending solid supports depending downwardly from said shank portion between said grooves to underlie the arch of the wearer, said supports exceeding in thickness the thickness of said heel and the thickness of said ball portion on the inside of the shank, the thickness of the shankportion at the grooved areas being less than the thickness of the ball or heel portions, whereby application of weight on a foot resting on the uninterrupted upper surface of the sole will cause deformation of the shank portion into arch contacting and supporting position, while the shank is readily flexible in a longitudinal sense because of the grooves between adjacent transverse supports.

ARTHUR FISCH. 

